The unexploded bomb recovered from the blast site at the Ajmer shrine was set to go off three minutes after the first one, reports Tushar Srivastava.

The unexploded bomb recovered from the blast site at the Ajmer shrine was set to go off three minutes after the first one.

Investigators said an examination of the device and the mobile phone attached to it has revealed that the time had been set at 6.15pm.

The bomb had been strategically placed at the entrance to the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti dargah. Senior intelligence officials said the reasoning behind the plan was to ensure maximum loss of life — the first would make people rush out, and that’s when the second one would strike.

However, the second bomb did not explode because the bomber had not put on its “safety switch”.

“Though the internal circuit of the unexploded bomb was complete it did not go off at the time set on the clock because the safety switch was off and the current did not pass,” the official said.

However, investigators are considering another possibility. “The unexploded bomb could be a deliberate ploy to

throw the investigators off track. This

is the fourth incident where unexploded bombs have been recovered from blast sites. Police had recovered live bombs from the sites of the Samjhauta Express blast, the Mecca Masjid blast in May

and the twin blasts in August,” the official added.

Investigations in the Mecca Masjid case have hit a dead end after sleuths tracked down the shop from where the cell phone, used to trigger the explosive, was purchased.